Cloakroom girl wows opera critics with ’exquisite’ show after standing in last minute

THE announcement on the Wigmore Hall website was understated to say the least. “Change of artist,” it read. “Due to illness Ruby Hughes (soprano) is no longer able to perform in the above concert. We are extremely grateful to Milly Forrest (soprano) for stepping in at short notice. The programme will remain the same.”

Stepping in at short notice after a singer was taken ill, Milly Forrest wowed audiences

The event in question was the London concert hall’s final song recital of the season, including ensemble works by Franz Schubert and Ralph Vaughan Williams and a solo of If Music Be The Food Of Love by Henry Purcell. But behind the matter-of-fact tone of the announcement lies an extraordinary drama and the heartwarming tale of one young woman seizing her opportunity and giving it her all – to brilliant effect.

Before taking the stage for the performance a fortnight ago Milly Forrest was probably best known to patrons of Wigmore Hall not for her voice but as one of the staff. The 23-year-old student is employed there part-time as an usher, attending the cloakroom, checking tickets and looking after the artists and performers.

But after soprano Ruby Hughes was taken ill she was given a last-minute opportunity to show what she could do on stage and according to concert-goers and critics alike she rose to the occasion flawlessly.

“Her singing has an unspoilt innocence and humility,” declared one critic, with another writing: “Forrest was breathtaking at the close as her voice floated heavenwards… her silvery tone sounded exquisite in Purcell’s If Music Be The Food Of Love.”

Audience members were similarly enthusiastic. “Milly Forrest did a splendid job and I don’t just mean a splendid job under the circumstances,” said one. Another added: “The audience loved her and social media is ablaze with praise for the whole event. It was a really fantastic concert all round. Bravo Wigmore.”

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Milly with trumpeter boyfriend Louis Dowdeswell

But perhaps the most dramatic aspect of Milly’s unexpected opportunity to shine is that she nearly missed the chance because she had misplaced her phone.

Indeed as soon as the Welsh soprano Hughes cancelled artistic director John Gilhooly made the decision to promote Milly but for several hours was unable to get in touch with her.

“I went out and for the one day of the year I didn’t take my phone,” said Milly after the concert. “When I returned there were loads of messages and missed calls. I was quite worried and then I listened to the message and it was saying they needed me but would have to give the part to someone else if I did not respond immediately and there was a cut-off point. Thankfully I beat the deadline and got my chance.”

Not only did she beat the deadline: she did so with minutes to spare. “It took a few hours to track her down and she nearly missed the boat,” said Gilhooly. “I decided 5pm would be the cut-off, after which we would have to find someone else, and she rang back at 10 to five.”

Of course Milly was not a completely unknown quantity to the artistic director. Many of the staff at Wigmore Hall are aspiring performers, musicians and students hoping to gain experience of the industry by working at one of the world’s leading concert venues. As well as checking coats there Milly is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music where she met boyfriend, trumpet player Louis Dowdeswell, and will be starting a Masters at the Royal College of Music in September. Gilhooly had auditioned her for a singing role in the spring although as she admits: “I didn’t think anything would come of it.” For Gilhooly, however, Milly’s talent was clear: it was just a question of finding the right time to let her show it.

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'She has a voice of great beauty,' her boyfriend said

“She has a voice of great beauty. She is level-headed and knows there is work to do but there is real promise there,” he says. “I had said to her if there was an opportunity I would bear her in mind.

“The thing is you must always be ready and she was ready. I always say to young artists that you never know when the phone is going to ring and you must be ready. I thought she did really well. It was beautiful.”

She may be only 23 but the budding soprano has already built up quite a performing CV. After making her debut in a production of Oliver at the Bedford Park Festival near her home in Chiswick, west London, in 2003 aged just nine, she took the lead as Dorothy in The Wizard O f Oz at the same venue the following year.

When she was 10 she gained a place at the Junior Royal Academy of Music and aged 13 she made headlines in the local paper when she scooped a hat-trick of singing competitions in the space of a single week taking first prize at the Grove Park singing competition in Chiswick, then winning her school music competition and finally picking up the solo singing trophy at the Godalming Music Festival in Surrey “for giving an out standing performance”.

She has since sung in venues across the country, including at the Amersham Festival of Music, Buckinghamshire, with the Nantwich Choral Society in Cheshire and at the Leith Hill musical festival in Surrey.

But despite the prizes and performances and place at the Royal Academy of Music, forging a career as a soprano is hardly the easiest job and as well as working as a cloakroom attendant at Wigmore Hall to make ends meet Milly has also modelled in her spare time. On her online portfolio she describes herself as “fairly new to the world of modelling,” adding: “I would like to earn some extra pocket money doing some modelling as I am a student in London and living costs are extremely expensive.”

She also admits that when she finally took the call from Gilhooly and was told she had just 36 hours to prepare for the opportunity of a lifetime she struggled with nerves.

“I couldn’t quite believe I was being asked. I was absolutely terrified,” she said. “Some of the other artists recognised me because I’m sometimes the one who gives them their five-minute warning before concerts. It was performing with the other singers – people who are my massive idols – that was the terrifying part, the feeling that I didn’t deserve to be there.

“I am just glad my dad wasn’t in the audience . He would have been bawling his eyes out.

“I was so honoured to get the opportunity. It was amazing fun really and although I was really nervous you really raise your game when you are surrounded by other people who are so brilliant.”

Following her outstanding performance at Wigmore Hall, Milly admits that she has received “extra bookings” for more concerts but insists that despite her newfound status she’s not about to become a diva and has no plans to quit her usual job of collecting tickets and checking in coats.

“He [Gilhooly] was taking a bit of a risk by letting me step up, I can’t put into words how grateful I am,” she says. “There are so many other fantastic singers who work on the Wigmore Hall staff. It’s the perfect job. Let’s see how it goes. I am not getting carried away.”